The Trees Of Solace
by PrinceOfElves
Summary: A young boy from seven, feels alone with just the forest as a friend. All he wants is survival. But, the Capitol has a problem with that. All they want is his life. The one thing he wants to keep most of all


The trees soothe me.

In a way they are my best friends and my closest family.

They have always been there for me and always will.

It's funny how I prefer the trees to my own siblings.

Some would call me cruel for essentially, abandoning the thought of my babied brothers and sisters.

But my siblings reject my affection.

To be truthful, I'm nothing like them.

Oak, the rude.

Chamberlain, the pranker.

Mary, the princess.

Finally, me.

Joseph the thoughtful.

* * *

I awake, to the sound of robin flitting between the trees. There's something reassuring about the calm of the woods, like being surrounded in a bubble. You are safe from everything outside the bubble.

And everything outside the bubble is safe from you.

Though I'm hardly a threat.

I have no strengths.

I can't throw an axe like a pro.

I sure as hell, am not making track.

I couldn't fight if my life depended on it.

And it might do...

* * *

As I trudge through the forest, it becomes more derelict. The closer I get to home, the closer I get to an industry slowly destroying my place of solitude.

Although we live in the forest, most don't respect it. I remember when I was as young as 7, I fought a group of twelve year olds for the right of a tree. They were going to tear down the tree my Granddad lived in. You see, instead of living in a log cabin with the rest of us, he built a home away from home. A small tree house for the whole family to enjoy. Me and Granddad stayed up there the most , me to get away from my siblings, Granddad to get away from the world. I guess I inherited that feeling from him.

As I quicken my pace, I feel like spitting in disgust. They forced me to watch as they burnt it to the ground. My Granddad place of solitude slipped from my grasp. No one shall take mine.

* * *

I walk past the graveyard next to my house, as quick as possible. There are reminders of him everywhere. Entering my house, I am not surprised to be confronted by a lot of noise.

"Mom, Chamberlain put glue on the** TOILET** **SEAT! **" Mary's shrill scream echoes through out the house.

Holding in a laugh, I gently creep up the stairs to enter my room.

"I know you didn't sleep here last night," whispered my Grandmother from across the hallway. Seriously, nothing gets past her. I think she's the only one who loved Granddad as much as I did.

"Get in bed, before your mother finds you,"added my Grandmother with a wink. Sometimes, I think she is the only person in my family, I can still rely on.

At breakfast it is just a giant hurry. A food flying, shoe tying mess. After twenty minutes we are finally there, the square. There's something unsettling about. Not just the fact two children go to their death here, every year. There is almost something wrong about the air. It is missing a sort of chestnut smell. Without it, it feels like an entirely different place. This place is not that of District 7, but that of the Capitol. A transportation for lambs to the slaughter. So many people have died. I have no doubt that tally may increase. But, not everyone will fall.

* * *

My people are weaker than the careers.

We are not skilled like the careers.

We rarely win the Hunger Games unlike the careers.

We are not fast unlike the careers.

But, what makes us different to the other districts is our bravery, our courage, our appearances and sometimes our stupidity. We know the woods by the back of our hands. We are persistent. Never count my District out. I haven't. The last time people did, we got a new victor.

* * *

This something disturbing about having my blood taken every year by the Capitol. What are they using it for? Most people say data like censuses, but I personally think it's something much worse than that.

It doesn't hurt that bad at least. Before I know it, I am in the sixteen's section. Bustling full of people, it's hard not to get claustrophobic in this small crowd of people. It's hard not to have your heart beating faster than the speed of light. Both of these apply to me.

All of my siblings are in the reaping ball. This saddens me, that in a world so advanced, the price we have to pay for it is to have our children die. With them, so does our future. I can't say I wouldn't be outraged or even volunteer if any of my sibling were reaped. Even though we are not close and they are my opposites, I love them for it.

* * *

"Good Morning folks time to begin, so could everyone please be quiet?" squeaks our escort, Lilth Winter.

I dislike for the sole reason of how she speaks. It reminds me of a children's entertainer like Punch and Judy, who I read about in a book. It's like she actually thinks it's a game, although she is the one who comes here every year, reminding us of the reasons why. It is like she is a little child herself.

After what seems forever, she finally finishes the film on the uprising. It just annoys me as, it just stalls the inevitable reaping and makes me a lot more worried. The rebellion doen't interest me. I personally just want to survive.

"Lets do the boys first for once, maybe?" she says with a glint in her eye. Personally, that just makes me even more worried. In the next minute, I'm going to be finding out if I live or die. She scrapes her fake nails along the side of the reaping bowl. She grasps for the pieces of paper like a vulture gripping for her prey. Finally, after my eardrums feel like they have been slowly pierced, she pulls a single slip of paper out.

"Joseepah? Is that it? No? Josepah Platt is your male tribute!"

My heart stops.

A million thoughts zoom through my head.

A million different outcomes.

A million different deaths.

But I suck it up. I put on a brave face. I think not of my future, but my past. The woods. Granddad. Grandma. So I walk up there with the most neutral expression possible for myself.

"Give it up for Josepah Platt!"

"It's Joseph, Miss."

"Be quiet, kid!" she hisses.

Maybe, not as childlike as I thought. I guess it's all for show. The way she speaks. The way she acts. She's as awful as I though some of the Capitol people would act like.

"Now onto the girls." she says with some anger hiding behind the statement. I think she is infuriated by the fact a district kid showed up. She turns, giving me evil eyes. Yep, I upset her.

This time she's alot quicker. The girl she picks is a girl from the year below. I remind myself to forget about her. Soon she might be dead. And I might be the one that kills her.


End file.
